Envelope-machine



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

D. M. LESTER.

ENVBLOPB MAGHINE.

No; 394,586. Patented Dee. 18, 1.888..

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3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

D. M. LESTER.

ENvELoPB MACHINE.

(No Model.)

No. 394,586. Patented Dec. 18, 1888.

M/WNEEEEE* (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

D. M. LESTER.

ENVBLOPE MACHINE.

No. 394,586. Patented Dec. 18, 1888.

1 Eff- "WITNESSEE- lyk/ENTER- N. PETERS Phnlalnhogmplw. wamingw. ILC`UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL M. LESTER, OE NOIVICII, CONNECTICUT.

ENVELOPE-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 394,586, dated December18, 1888.

Application filed December 12, 1887. Serial No. 257.713. (No model.)

T0 all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL M. LESTER, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of the city of Norwich, county of New London, and Stateof Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inEnvelope-Machines, which improvements are fully set forth and describedin the following specification, reference being had to the accompanyingfour sheets of drawings.

My said invention is in the class of machines that gum, pick up, carry,and fold envelope-blanks automatically; and my immediate object is,-iirst, to provide a simple form of blank-separator; second, to provide adevice for supporting and guiding the central portion of the blankswhile they are in transit from the pile of blanks to the folders, and,third, to combine with the carrier mechanism an improved form of cam, bymeans of which I am able to increase the speed of such machines withoutfear of breaking or injuring the same. Each of said improvements isdescribed in detail hereinafter, and is fully ill ustrated in theannexed drawings, in which- Figure l is a side elevation of anenvelopemachine frame, having in operative positions therein suchportions of the picker and carrier mechanisms as are necessary toexplain my said improvements. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detached view(reverse of Eig. l) of the plate m, which guides the blank as it ismoved toward the folders, and also shows my newseparator. In Fig. 3 Ihave shown the pile of blanks, the separator, guide-plate m, a portionof the folder-die, and my new rocking device for supporting the blanksas they are carried one by one to the folder die-plate. Fig. 4 is a topor plan view of a portion of the table B, showing in position the pileof blanks, the carriers which convey said blanks to the folders, and mysaid rocking blank-supporter. Fig. 5 is an enlarged detached view of thecam whichI employ to actuate the carrier mechanism of my machine. Fig.(5 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line of Fig. 5, andillustrates the means employed to cushion the engaging portions of armsd c', as hereinafter described.

The supporting-frame in machines of this class consists commonly ofapair of uprights, A secured together and stiffened by girders ortie-bolts u, and supporting a table, B, on or in which the gumming,feeding, and folding' devices are located. Hung in bearings in saidframe, below table B, is a shaft, C, which carries with it as it rotatesa series of cams, so shaped and so timed relative to each other thatthey may move the said gumming, feeding, and folding mechanisms. Vhendriven at a slow or moderate rate of speed, plain cams, of ordinaryconstruction, may be used, the forks or levers which engage said camsbeing held in engagement with the edge of the cams by gravity or bysprings; but when it is desired to speed up the machine it becomesunwise and in fact unsafe to depend on gravity or on springs, as theyfail at times to hold the cams and their actuated parts in closeengagement. This is especially objectionable in the case of the camwhich actuates the mechanism by which the blanks are transferred fromthe pile, commonly known as the carriers 'lo remedy this defect, I havesubstituted for the simple carrier-cam so long used one which actspositively in all positions to actuate its engaging lever-arm. I haveillustrated and claim ed said improved cam in this present specificationonly as applied to actuate the carrier mechanism of an envelopemachine;but the same movement may be advantageously used as an element ofvarious classes of machinery; and I therefore have filed a separateapplication for patent, describing said cam and its necessaryattachments, said application having been led May 31,1888, Serial No.275,670.

Referring to Figs.' l and 5, letter l) indicates a shaft hung in framesA, having journaled thereon an arm, h, which projects upward in the rearof table B, and is connected at its free end with horizontal bars c c,which serve to receive the blanks one at a time from the picker andcarry them to a position over the folding mechanism.

Fitted loosely on shaft D is a collar, d, having an integral arm, d',projecting toward shaft and having in or on its free end a roll, d2. eindicates acollar bored to tt loosely on the loose collar d, abovereferred to. This collar e has an integral arm, e', correspondilig toarm cl and projecting at an acute angle to it. Arm e carries at its freeend a roll, e2.

Arms d e are held in approximately the IOO same positions relative to,each other by an arm, d3, which extends from arm d past arm e',

and is provided with an upturned end, c7,4,toy

receive a set-screw, f. Between the upturned end of arm d3 and theconfronting edge of arm e is a packing, et, of rubber or similaryielding material, and also a block, g, which forms a gib against whichthe set-screw f may Arm e has, preferably, a short arm, d4, projectinglaterally over the arm (Z3, above referred to, and corresponding withsaid arm d3 in curvature. Near the free end of said arm d* is a slot,(Z5, through which passes a screw,

d, that is tapped into the arm di?. rlhe screwl cams or rolls weresomewhat worn. Clamped iiXedly to shaft D is an arin, h, whose free endis connected with arm d by a spiral. spring, z', arm d being formed withan eye, j, for the purpose.

A convenient means of adjustment of spring /z' is provided in screw h',which passes through a lug on arm 7L and engages a corresponding lug onarm CZ. Under this provision the spring may be attached in its closedposition with k little effort and afterward strained nto ther desireddegree by means of screw h. As the arms d e are moved by the duplex camdescribed in the following paragraph, they carry with them thcspring-connected arm h, and thus rock the shaft D, to which said arm 7Lis clamped.

Located on shaft C is a compound cam, whose sections E E are offset andoverlap each other, being of such shape and size that they may engage,respectively, the rolls cl2 and e2, and each remain in such engagementthroughout a complete revolution of shaft C, with which the saidcompound cam rotates. One section, E, of said cam acts to lift the armsd e', and thus rock arm 7i and shaft D. The companion cam E serves tomove said rocking parts in the opposite direction.

Then in use, if a blank should fail to feed properly and should becomecrumpled up in the path of the carriers the spring z' would yield andthe arm b and the carrier-bars c c remain stationary, the compound cammeanwhile rotating and arms d e oscillat-ing without damage to the otherparts of the machine.

Another feature of my invention consists ofv a simple form ofblank-separator. This separator is formed of a single piece ofspringwire, one of whose ends '7c bcarsfon the iiap of the top blank andis reduced in thickness to give it the necessary elasticity, theopposite end being bent backward parallel with said reduced portion toform a slot, 7s', through which a binding-screw, k2, may pass, and bymeans'of which (slot and screw) said separator may be readily adjusted.To prevent the displacement of said separator when' a blank is removedfrom under its spring end, l provide, preferably,.a fixed stud or pin,7f3, whose perimeter is in the same horizontal plane vas that of thebinding-screw k2.. The separator thus formed and supported is secured toone side of a plate, m, attached to the die-plate G, through which theblanks pass to the folders. This plate m is beveled or curved from itsfree end upward, so that the center of a blank as it is carried` towardthe die-plateG may gradually but certainly be raised to a level withsaid die-plate.

The spring-separator above described is not intended to take the placeor perform the work of separators placed at the several corners of thepile of blanks, as Ashown in my patent, No. 221,835, of November 1S,1879, bu-t is provided as an extra precaution to prevent the accidentaldisplacement of the top blank.

A third and very important feature of my invention is a device forraising and supporting the center of the blanks as they are lifted oneat a time from the pile and deposited on the carriers c c. In workinglarge blanks, especially those for making open-end envelopes, the centerof the sheet naturally sags, and occasionally, when moved at high speed,does not rise readily on plate m, but catches on the end of said plate,resulting in loss of time and stock and possible damage to the machine.The device which I have now provided to overcome this annoyingdifficulty consists of a vsupporter formed., preferably, as an arc of acircle, whichl operates in unison with the pickers and passes under andsupports the center of the blank as soon as said blank is raised fromthe pile. As said blank passes to the die-plate G and the pickers beginto descend, said supporter is moved out of the path of the pickers untilthe blank is lifted from the pile, when it (the supporter) immediately.moves forward and upward beneath it.

Referring again to the drawings, n indicates a rock-shaft supported'inbearings n', secured to the bed of the machine, and having a radial arm,n2, whose free end is connected by rod n3 with a similar arm, o, securedto the rock-shaft H, which alsoactuates the pickers p. Onthe inner endof shaft n is an arm,n4,tovwhich is adj ustably secured my arc-shapedsupporter a5, above referred to. That portion of the supporter a5 whichen gages the paperis preferably brought to an edge, so as to offerlittle resistance to the paper as it is carried along over it.

The pickers and'my new supporter must Work in unison-that is to say,whenthe pickers come down for a blank the supporter must recede out of theirway, and when the pickers rise with a blank said supporter mustimmediately follow and take its position under said IOO IIO

.two offset overlapping sections, a pair of lever-arms loosely pivotedon said rock-shaft and carryingl at their free ends rolls that engagethe perimeter of said cam, an arm fixed on said rock-shaft, and a springconnecting said fixed arm and the forked lever-arm, all beingsubstantially as and for the object specified. v

2. A separator formed of a single piece of spring-wire bent back uponitself, as described, and reduced in thickness at its free end, incombination with plate m and a binding-screw for securing said separatorto said plate, substantially as herein described, and for the purposespecified.

3. In combination with mechanism, substantially as described, forpickingl up envelope-blanks, and mechanism, substantially as set forth,for carrying' the same to folding' devices, a rock-shaft locatedadjacent to the pile of blanks havingl secured thereto a rzdial arm withcurved crank-supporter, as set forth, for raising and supporting thecenter of a blank while in transit to the folders, and mechanism,substantially as described, for actuating' said rock-shaft and itsconnected parts, in the manner and for the purpose specified.

DANIEL M. LENFER.

vitnessesz JONATHAN W. HooKER, FRANK H. ALLEN.

